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Ad agencies take briefs from clients on a creative campaign all the time. But have you heard of a client accepting a product brief from its agency? That is what Kewal Kiran Clothing, the Mumbai-based apparel-makers of brands such as Killer Jeans and Lawman, did when it came across a small but effective product idea from its creative team at Grey India (Grey) last summer. Grey not only ended up with a happy client, but also the Grand Prix award in the Creative Abbies at the recently concluded Goafest, 2013.
In fact, as agencies drew flak recently for their flawed emphasis on awards rather than real ads, the buzz around Grey's win reminds the industry that awards are not completely a lost cause. Grey has gone on to bag accounts right after the fest, reinforcing that awards remain relevant with clients.
While the agency figures among the leading 10 advertising shops in the country, in the last few years it has struggled to re-inforce its once-powerful creative credentials. Grey International gradually took over Trikaya, known as a creative powerhouse in the 1980s (from Trikaya Grey to Grey Worldwide). But with O&M emerging as a force to reckon with in the 1990s - a dominance which continues to this day - Grey seemed to have lost some of its sheen, industry watchers say.
The agency is now looking to stage a comeback and the process appears to have been set into motion with its Grand Prix-win. Jishnu Sen, president and chief executive officer, Grey India, says, "We have managed to get back the buzz around us. We have to capitalise on this momentum now."
Within a fortnight of its win, Grey took home the mandate for Reliance Broadcast in Mumbai and Delhi. While Grey Delhi will handle the radio station 92.7 Big FM and the regional channels Big Magic and Spark Punjabi, Grey Mumbai will handle the English entertainment channels Big CBS Prime, Big CBS Love and Big RTL Thrill. It had also got empanelled by the Tea Board in Kolkata alongwith JWT and O&M.
The Water Savers campaign for Killer which got the spotlight back on Grey's creative chops was to differentiate a new line of denim trousers which required 80 per cent less water in the making of each pair than traditional manufacturing. "There was nothing to differentiate the jeans when it came to its looks," says Amit Akali, executive vice-president and national creative director, Grey India. His colleague, Malvika Mehra, also EVP and NCD at Grey, explains, "That's when we suggested that the jeans be dyed green from the inside. So, when people fold the jeans up, the offbeat colour will be visible. You not only stand out, more importantly, you are associating with a cause, which is of being environment-friendly."
Kewal Kiran wasted no time in choosing to dye the inside of its jeans green. Once done, phase two of the campaign was all about promoting the green side of the trouser - the green fold. Grey took to print, TV, online and on-ground events to underline the message that if consumers did pick up the product, they would be supporting the cause of saving water. The campaign included editorial endorsements, crowd-sourcing for print ads on what users might do with 100 litres of water (the amount supposedly saved in making each pair of denims) and even flash mobs.
Not only did sales increase, the campaign found resonance with people, and gave Grey the required edge to pick up the category-best award in April. The integrated category, for the uninitiated, is one of the most sought-after segments in the Creative Abbies, where campaigns are evaluated on how well they were executed across media and the thought-process that went behind it.
By laying its hands, therefore, on the Integrated Grand Prix for Killer Jeans, industry sources say that Grey, which counts Reliance Communications, GSK Consumer, Procter & Gamble (Grey does work on Pantene) Dell, Ferrero, Indian Oil and ITC as its key clients across five offices, including Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata and Chennai, has demonstrated it can no longer be taken for granted.
The agency is also likely to benefit from the just-announced global re-alignment of Gillette, which moved from BBDO (which had the account for 80 years) to Grey, following a seven-month-long review process. "That is a big win for them and something that will add to their portfolio of brands and businesses," says the head of a rival agency.
Sen, who has been with Grey since 2007, has been putting his core team in place in recent years, which apart from Akali and Mehra, includes Dheeraj Sinha, who is the chief strategy officer (South & South East Asia). His A-team also has Sudhir Nair, who as senior vice-president and head of the digital division has been spearheading online work for brands handled by Grey, as well as independent clients. "Besides digital, we are also focusing on building our strengths in areas such as retail, shopper marketing and consumer activations. This should help us at a time when clients are demanding greater bang for their advertising buck," Sen adds.
